Timeline of Events

13 September 1943

Germans take control of Campo 57 and transfer Denis by train via Bischofshofen to Stalag XVIIIC (317) at Markt Pongau, 50km south of Salzburg. Issued POW tag 32679.

24 September 1943

Denis travels by train from Markt Pongau to Stalag VIIIA at Görlitz, on the modern German/Polish border.

October - November 1943

Denis worked in a sugar factory at Strelen (now called Strzelin), 50km south of Wroclaw.

November 1943

Denis returned to Stalag VIIIA at Görlitz.

November - December 1943

Denis returned to Strelen sugar factory.

End December 1943

Denis spent Christmas at Stalag VIIIA at Görlitz.

1-3 February 1944

Denis was transferred to Stalag 344 (formerly VIIIB) at Lamsdorf (now called Łambinowice in Poland), Southwest of Oppeln (now called Opole).

18 February 1944

Denis employed in Commando (working camp) E725 near Stalag VIIIB at Teschen (now called Cieszyn on Czech/Polish border).

28 February - June 1944

Denis based at Stalag VIIIB at Teschen and spent time in a work camp at "Bismark near Rattowity." We have not been able to locate Bismark or Rattowity.

10 July 1944

Denis employed in Commando E494 at Glewitz (now called Gliwice in Poland).

22 July - 29 August 1944

Denis worked on a railway line - Commando E728 at Oderburg, near modern day Bohumin in Czech Republic and Chalupki in Poland. It was a railway junction through which passed supplies to the Eastern Front.

10 September - 1 January 1945

Denis held at Stalag VIIIB at Teschen. He was not fit enough to work in the coal mine.

January 1945

Denis returned to Commando E728 at Oderburg.

27 January 1945

Denis evacuated westwards ahead of the advancing Red Army.

Excerpt from Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War

This passage describes the transfer of POWs, including Denis, from Italy to Stalag VIIIA at Görlitz in Germany.

From those camps that were taken over by German troops in September 1943, all except the few who succeeded in hiding were marched to the nearest railway station. The Germans took what precautions they could to prevent escapes-a strong guard along the route, threats before setting out of the dire consequences that would follow any attempted breaks, even a demonstration with a flame-thrower at Campo PG 57. The weather was at its hottest and men struggled along in the dust, wearing or carrying whatever possessions they could, at the pace set by the guards. Some dropped with exhaustion from the heat and the exertion and were brought along later by truck. The guarding was efficient and there was little chance of breaking away.

Most of the trains went north via Verona, through the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck, though a few took the more easterly Tarvisio Pass to Villach [this would have included Denis]. They were almost entirely made up of cattle-trucks and closed goods-wagons with a very few third-class carriages, some of them Italian rolling-stock commandeered by the German military authorities, others returning north after having brought German troops and equipment south for the Italian campaign. Into these trucks the prisoners were packed, as many as fifty in each, though the number was reduced for officers to about thirty-five. With thirty-five it was almost impossible for everyone to lie down at once, and with fifty for everyone to sit down, even when kit has been hung on the sides and from the roof beams. The sliding doors were closed and bolted, and prisoners were left for the journey with at most two small openings in the sides of the truck for air and light, no provision for latrines, and only such food and water as they had been able to carry with them. Though most had ample Red Cross food, it did not take long for men perspiring in the 'oven-like heat', to empty their water bottles; and for those with any kind of dysentery the journey was a miserable experience. There were occasional halts on the journey north, often not long enough for every truckload to be allowed out. On the longer journeys there were considerable halts at stations and sometimes meals from the German Red Cross.

From the moment they were locked inside, men in almost every truck looked about for ways out of it. Before the train bringing those from Campo PG 57 had reached the junction at Udine, some had crawled through the small windows and jumped clear, and from Udine onwards the stream of escapers continued. There were similar losses from the first trains on the main line north to the Brenner Pass. In later trains those openings that were not barred were closed with barbed wire to prevent such escapes. Nevertheless, in some of the wooden trucks a hole was made near the bolt securing one of the sliding doors, a hand was put through and the door opened, leaving the whole truckload free to make a break; and several truckloads did.

For most of the prisoners the journey was one of acute discomfort and, for some, of real physical hardship. But it was relieved by glimpses of splendid alpine scenery, which led at least one prisoner to call the Austrian Tyrol 'the most beautiful country I have seen since leaving my own'. There was interest in the difference of landscape and dwellings from those in Italy; interest too in calling out to groups of British prisoners working alongside the railway, some of whom had been in German hands since the end of the campaign in France.

Those from Campo 57 were the first large party from Italy to reach Stalag XVIIIC at Markt Pongau in Austria, a transit camp which then held some 1000 prisoners of several other European nationalities. Though in a beautiful alpine setting on the left bank of the Salzach, roughly 25 miles south of Salzburg, the camp was very dirty and the barracks infested with vermin. Many prisoners, to avoid the bedbugs, preferred to sleep on the floor wrapped in their great-coats; a number would have had to in any case as there were not enough beds to go round, nor any blankets. For the first time they tasted the typical German stalag fare - vegetable soup and 'black' bread, boiled potatoes and mint tea. There, too, they went through the registration, searching, and delousing routine already described elsewhere, but had all their spare clothing, boots, and blankets confiscated. After a fortnight or so most went north to Stalag VIIIA at Görlitz in Saxony, page 100

Map of the former location of Stalag XVIIIC Markt Pongau in the village of St. Johann in Pongau, south of Salzburg in Austria.

miles east of Dresden. Several thousand British and American prisoners passed through this camp, and by mid-November only 450-odd remained.

Stalag VIIIA, to which went a trainload of prisoners from Campo PG 57, covered over 70 acres of sloping countryside on the eastern outskirts of the town of Görlitz. One of the oldest prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, it had barracks of the same type as those at Lamsdorf and had held prisoners of several Allied European countries. When New Zealand men arrived from Italy it contained French, Belgians and Serbs, together with a number of Russians in an adjacent but carefully segregated compound. The portion of the camp allotted to the newcomers was in bad repair, with many missing doors and windows and a bad shortage of beds and palliasses. It was also infested with lice and bedbugs, and though the former were soon overcome the latter persisted. There was a very poor water supply and the usual rather primitive latrine system. But under good leadership the camp soon began to show improvement. Generous gifts of food and tobacco from the French and Belgians tided the British prisoners over a lean period until copious Red Cross supplies of all kinds began to arrive in October. In time it became possible to organise all the amenities common in other, longer-established British camp communities.

The stalag very quickly became overcrowded, and remained so until sufficient working parties were moved out to work-camps. All those below the rank of corporal underwent a rather cursory medical examination by a German doctor and were graded according to the heaviness of the work he considered they were fit to undertake. Before the end of the year hundreds of men had gone to work in coal mines or stone quarries, at sugar, glass or paper factories, on railway construction or other building work, in Arbeitskommandos attached to Stalag VIIIA.

To Germany in a cattle truck.

As many as could be got out to work were sent to coal mines, sugar-beet factories, aerodrome construction jobs, and other work in the neighbourhood. Without Red Cross food parcels and camp concerts, boxing tournaments and other sports, this unpleasant existence would have been hard to bear. Boils, a common complaint among prisoners of war, became particularly prevalent.

Between the barracks of Stalag VIIIA at Görlitz, east of Dresden.

Denis sends Christmas best wishes from Stalag VIIIA in 1943. His letter has German stamps of Hitler.

Sickness gave several an opportunity to get back to stalag, though many others who were sick were ordered out to work by the German doctor or the commandant, whose decision as to whether a prisoner was fit enough to work was final.

My first letters may have worried you and Mum a little. But rest assured conditions in this camp are extremely good and there is now no need to worry over my welfare. I'll soon be on my feet again and regain lost weight. I am now in a new hut with only two of our lot - all the rest have been here a year or so and getting regular mail and parcels from home (Aust & NZ). There are plenty of books and cards in this hut and many have lent me clothes while mine are washing. It rains a lot now but our hut is dry and warm. The nights are long - dark from 5:30pm to 7:30am. Lights out at 9pm and hot water comes in the morning at 7:30 for making tea or cocoa out of Red Cross parcels. Have ½ issue loaf with jam then rice and macaroni at 10am, vegetable soup at 4pm, meat Thurs and Sun. Hot water at 12 and 5:30pm also. The parcels with meats, biscuits, jam, butter, pudding, milk, etc. are great. Thus you see Dear life is not too bad eh!

This is my first airmail to you so may arrive first. I am now a POW and Stalag VIII A is apparently my base camp, from it I will probably go to camps working. Already I have had a month in a sugar factory from which I wrote to you. Whether I will return to that command or not, I do not know. I am well and very fit to have benefited by the exercise. A twelve hour trip through this country travelling in moderate comfort was most interesting and enlightening. Red Cross food parcels are now arriving regularly. We have of course lost contact with many cobbers from Italy. No idea when we'll receive mail from you again but may be in direct communication soon - this war can't last forever.

We had our big disappointment of course. 'Finito la guerre' did not mean so much. Hope you and Mum & Dad have not worried too much. Some got away but most of us are safely in Germany. I have work in a sugar factory. The hours are long but the job is not too bad and has its points and I am feeling the benefit of the exercise. Red Cross parcels are again arriving. Of course we have had a complete change of diet and potatoes and cabbage take the place of macaroni and rice. We had a very interesting journey through Austrian Tyrol and Germany and are now near Breslow. Have had our first snow but not feeling the cold too bitterly. Have no idea where old cobbers are now but have two or three good chaps with me. Work alongside Poles, Russians, French, Belgians, in fact all races. Darling, life still goes on - it must come our way soon. You are now as always my love and life.

Xmas here again and still we are apart but still we say "it can't be long now" and at last each time it is more true. In many ways conditions in this country are better than in Italy.

I hope none of my letters and notes seem too cold and bitter. Don't feel hurt by little things. Writing is so hard now isn't it? Such a lot of things will have to wait till we meet again, so many changes will have taken place that one cannot plan for the future. Whatever happens Dear I will always love you - that the war cannot change.

Denis was issued tag 32679 on arrival at Stalag XVIIIC (317) at Markt Pongau. This was his POW number for all stalags and work camps in Germany.

I've been undeservedly lucky with mail Darling but I seem to be a lucky sort of chap. Having you convinces me of that. So little one can say in these cards but Dear my love is yours always.

Excerpt from Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War

This passage describes Stalag 344 (formerly VIIIB) at Lamsdorf and Stalag VIIIB at Teschen. Denis spent considerable time in both stalags in 1944.

Besides the trainloads of men who went direct to Stalag VIIIB there were others who were moved from Stalag VIIIA. This huge camp, which had started to show improvement since the appointment of a new German commandant, now became still larger through the sudden influx from Italy and numbered well over 30,000, 10,000 of them in the stalag itself, with men sleeping on tables, on forms, or simply on the floor, and with other camp services similarly overcrowded. Our men from Italian camps met in the stalag many old comrades from the campaigns in Greece and Crete. Those who had come from Italy, more especially those from Campo PG 57, wondered at the comparative lack of discipline in this camp and at the activities that could go on inside it unknown to the enemy. They saw shackling in its last rather farcical stage when the handcuffs were issued but not put on; they met men living in the camp of whom the German office had no record or only a false one. Less easy to contemplate with detachment were the activities of a gang whose members tried for a while to improve their lot at the expense of their fellow prisoners by intimidating them with blade-razors. Sooner or later the newcomers, who had all been graded by German doctors according to the page 104type of labour they were medically fit for, left for coal mines or other places of work in Silesia.

Letter sent to Denis' mother from Mrs Ada Rush in Taranaki. It reads: "Dear Mrs Caves. In case you didn't hear or receive word of a Radio Broadcast tonight from Berlin, Germany, I am writing to let you know that the name of J.D. Caves came over as a POW now in Germany. There was also a message which I got as near as possible. Message - Well folks, a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year. Love to Jean and all. Take care of yourselves."

By December the German authorities, to cope with the over-crowding at Lamsdorf and at the same time divide the work of administering its numerous Arbeitskommandos, transferred administrative staff to form new base camps at Teschen and Sagan. These page 105became known stalag VIIIB and Stalag VIIIC respectively, the original campat Lamsdorf being renumbered Stalag 344. The Silesian working camps were now conveniently divided between Stalag 344 and Stalags VIIIA, B, and C, all coalmining Arbeitskommandos coming under Stalag VIIIB at Teschen. The latter very soon had a strength of 11,000 British Commonwealth prisoners (including nearly 1000 New Zealanders); became known as Stalag VIIIB and Stalag VIIIC respectively, the original camp at Lamsdorf being renumbered Stalag 344. The Silesian working but only a little over 200 of these were at the base camp, the remainder being spread over fifty or more Arbeitskommandos.

As you will see I have shifted again. After 15 days work at the sugar factory I returned to Stalag [VIIIA] and had quite a good 3 months including Xmas. VIIIA was really a French camp and very good once supplies came from Red Cross arrived. It certainly must have been hard on you all hearing that we had been shifted to Germany. From our camp we had no chance of escape but I believe some from work camps got away.

Oh darling heart of mine what a long time it is. I hate having kept you waiting and feel that I should have let you free. I love you enough to put your happiness first - could gladly see you marry someone more worthy of you who could give you more. Darling I'm feeling so old and lacking in enthusiasm that I doubt I could make you happy though my love for you will never dim. Let's hope freedom will bring new life and hope. One can hardly visualise a life free from barbed wire now.

You've had a worrying time my dear ones. No chance of freedom came my way but we have only to wait. So many in Germany have so hopeless a prospect before them. You all down under can only imagine the misery that is this war. If there is a God how can it last longer?

Still touring Europe - so old and cultured but becoming increasingly keen on the slogan "Europe for the Europeans". Your birthday again so near Darling. I'll be thinking of you and wishing all the best.

More birthdays nearly over but we'll have many more to spend together and these wasted years will be but a memory. A proud memory - if I'd ten lives I'd have spent them willingly so. I am now in another area of Germany and adding much to my knowledge.

I'm quite well and fit and the 'wire' not weighing me down too much. Have you ever seen young calves when first let out in a green paddock after a couple of months in a shed? We'll be very similar - but one could not know the ecstasy of freedom without captivity or the joy of plenty without hunger. It is all life. We have lived and I hope have gained in the long run. A sheltered life is mere existence.

Letters arriving fairly well - most old Italian addressed mail now received. I can well realise how hard it must be for you to write at times Dear but just carry on as it is necessary for us to know that somewhere the world is sane and that we really have a home in New Zealand.

What a long time before you knew we were in page 106Germany! I guess you had given up hope of my being free! What a joke, we can hardly imagine home and freedom now. The clichés 'keep your chin up', 'keep smiling, it won't be long now' only bring a curse. Yet still I say it won't be long now Dear. The last few days have been light and warm and most of the snow has melted about here. Imagine captivity in the Spring - but can one imagine it? We did our part and can wait for others to do theirs. We are at any rate keeping fairly fit and parcels are regular.

A barrack interior at Stalag VIIIA.

Receiving quite a lot of old mail addressed Italy and NZ House which has filled up quite a bit of news. Spring will soon be here and liberty we are sure. With luck we'll share a Xmas turkey.

Jean Dear if some of my letters are bitter and perhaps hurt please forgive and remember apart from natural physical trials our worst hardship by far is the mental torture of captivity. One gets to hate the sight and sound of his fellows through never being able to be alone. Let's go away to an island by ourselves and live alone. But Dear we could be a thousand times worse off in other ways and don't think that I don't realise how hard it is for you Old Girl waiting, just waiting, seeing others with homes of their own and life seeming futile. How I wish we had married! But I couldn't influence you too much - you were too young for it. But as you say, we'll make up for it all and we belong to each other.

There is little in these notes but there is little to tell dear ones. Life still goes on but not for us who wait, while the gods laugh - or do they? Guess that's the question. One must believe the world diseased and vicious cures necessary. We'll come through all right though.

Excerpt from Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War

This passage describes news of the Allied landings in Normandy reaching the POWs in Germany.

For most prisoners in Germany the landing [6 June 1944 - D-day] was the most significant event of the war; for as it became clear that it had been consolidated, they felt for the first time that they could see the end of their captivity. But the frustration of the failure of the plot against Hitler on 20 July, and the attempts of the Nazi propaganda machine to urge the German people, through fear, to greater efforts, precluded any thought of an early armistice. And though there were great Allied advances on both the Eastern and Western fronts, and city after city was liberated from German occupation, the Allied forces in the West did not enter German territory until 12 September. After the setback at Arnhem, with the summer gone and the German leaders determined to fight on, nothing decisive seemed likely to happen and prisoners resigned themselves to another winter in Germany.

This is 18th June and we of course know of the landing in France and are naturally optimistic. Again wondering if Xmas will see us home. Darling sweetheart will years ever seem so long as these of our separation? How things must have changed at home. Jean I spend hours visualising my girl of 19 turned into a woman of 3 or 4 and twenty. I guess you'll be wondering about me too Dear. But one thing I know, my love for you will always be the same, the Jean I met and loved as a school girl will ever be you my dear. Keep yourself happy girl of mine. We'll come through. I'll be back for you some day no matter what.

Camp money issued to Denis. Valid only in camp and limited items were available.

Still keeping well and trying to live each day just for the day. Can't even try to visualise the future even though the end seems to be getting close now. Some time we'll do heaps of talking of these days.

It is some weeks now since I had the pleasure of writing to you as Mum likes to write most weeks and I think she gives you most of the news. You will have three nieces to inspect when you come home. I think Roy is home for good and Jean is still the land girl and waiting patiently for the war to finish and you to come home. She is a fine girl.

Now in a working party of NZs - only none you'd know. Working on railway line - open air good change from factory. Keeping well.

Jean's letter rejected by the Opotiki Post Office for infringing POW communication guidelines.

There is so much I have not told you of my life that may have gone to the changing of my views and self that I hope my letters never hurt you and seem strange. But we can only do that which seems right at the time. Barbed wire often enters deeper than the flesh - but maybe peace and freedom will heal the scars of most.

Seventy NZ's in this camp. Play a lot of crib lately, had a rest from contract.

Five years of strong ambitious youth have gone down the drain. We could have been sitting pretty now. On my return what have I to offer you Darling? How long before I can give you a home? You are old enough to know the world and your own mind now and you must decide what you want out of life. After all love is not everything and neither can be happy unless both are. All for you to decide and I'd understand any decision you made.

Surely you can imagine our lives. Barbed wire and steel bars predominate so much that it is little wonder our minds become crabbed and rusty. One builds hope on hope to see them topple, one begins to doubt himself, life, God and the use of living in a world of madness. Many with me have had over four years of this life, yet those of us sane enough realise just how hard it is for wives and sweethearts at home - not that that makes our lot better. Often the fool is happier to see the meaning of so little and there is so much to see here that has long stories of misery behind to one of imagination and compassion.

One thinks at times that to bring children into this world is a crime. However we are fit and parcels regular. Books and bridge and work occupy us here. Well my dear, we'll marry early in '45. I guess if you still want the chap I now am.

Photograph of POWs playing cards at Stalag VIIIB.

I guess you are all on your toes too. It certainly looks like Xmas in England. Some even anticipate home. We have been put on ½ parcels as from next week. Private parcels seem to be a thing of the past now. You will notice I have changed my address again. Sure get around don't I? In this place are many old Italy POWs. Good to be together again. Majority of last commando went to coalmines after being medically examined.

Guess you are all close to the wireless these great days of big events. Our work at this place is not too arduous. In fact I with 11 others from the last place were sent here as only being fit for light work. Actually darling I have had a couple of spells in hospital in Germany which I have not before mentioned. I tell now as the end is in view. My darling we'll still have a hard row to hoe afterwards if we marry. I'm afraid I'm not as young or fit as once. These years of youth and strength have gone down the drain. But with luck and love we'll grab our happiness yet.

There'll undoubtedly be many changes at home now - we hear yarns of this and that but no confirmation. I guess you are not allowed to write of many things. Anyway I'll soon be seeing for myself - we are expecting happy news any tick of the clock.

American poster of German POW camps showing Stalag XVIIC Markt Pongau in central Austria, Stalag 344 Lamsdorf in South-eastern Germany (this area of Silesia has been part of Poland since 1945) and Stalag VIIIB Teschen on the modern Czech-Polish border. This map omits Stalag VIIIA Görlitz which was south of Stalag VIIIC Sagan.

POWs in Germany were restricted to post card correspondence home. Denis wrote this card from Commando E728 at Oderburg.

New Zealand Military Forces Base Records relay message heard over shortwave radio in Berlin.

Many rumours of things being done for our future reach us but all can't be true. Guess you're keeping an eye open for me but plans are as yet hard to make and anyway one is reconciled to taking life as it comes such as it is one can but do ones best or try. Don't ever worry we'll meet soon on Earth or elsewhere.

Fred Bowers and his brother are in this camp now. Fred was loose in Italy for 6 months. It is great the different experiences POWs have. Some strike lucky all the way. The ones who had a long spell in Africa behind wire - missed parcels - sickness or coal mines can tell different stories. Here prisoners are split up in small groups all over the place and conditions vary very much. We have had a few frosts but weather is still pretty good. I had learnt naturally a little German and Polish working with civies [Civilians] and now am picking up a little Czekish. It's funny to hear us talking at times to ones we're working with, mixing languages of countries we've been in. Still keeping fit Dear and hoping you are well and happy. The end is in sight now with all it means. Please God we'll be together soon.

Had our first snow yesterday but have plenty of clothes. Sent radio greetings yesterday.

Xmas Day again. Five have now gone past since we had one together but soon all our days will be Xmas Darling.

I hope you all had a happy Xmas and New Year, although it must have been a big disappointment not having Denis back with you. The way the Allies were moving forward in Sept justified anyone thinking that the war in Europe would be finished before Xmas. I am afraid we have underestimated the strength of the Nazi war machine and it may take some time to defeat Hitler. Still the longer the Nazis hang on, the bigger the beating they will get in the end. Poor Denis having had six Xmases away from home.

Denis' Remarks on POW Life in Germany

Related by Jean Caves and Michael Caves, December 2003

From his base at Stalag VIIIA, Denis worked at a sugar beet factory. He considered himself lucky to be working in a sugar factory, where he could eat the sugar. Some POWs even got fat eating the sugar. Denis said there was no point trying to escape, and if you behaved yourself and went with the flow it was Ok.

Some POWs died because they were too hungry to wait for rice to cook and ate it raw so that it swelled up inside them. Denis and others would catch and eat rats around the perimeter of the prison. They would fray the bulb of the grass and put it through the fence so that the rats would bite at it and get caught. Denis remarked that men would fight over rats. Red Cross food parcels kept the POWs alive and supply often got blocked. Denis was well disciplined with his Red Cross parcels while others gorged themselves and went hungry until the next delivery.

The POWs heard rumours of extermination camps but were disbelieving, respecting the Germans as an honourable race. Denis mentioned sighting factories and smelling an unusual smell somewhere in modern Poland. When Denis was in his 70s and in his last days in hospital, his nightmares returned and he remembered the 'factory.'

The Central Prisoner-of-War Museum In ŁAmbinowice

At the site of the former Stalag VIIIB/344 at Łambinowice in Poland, southwest of the city of Opole, is located a museum dedicated to the former POWs who died at Lamsdorf. 40,000 Russian prisoners died at the camp and the museum understandably focuses on Russian and Polish experiences. There is a growing interest in British POWs, however, amongst the Opole University staff who administer the museum.

The Stalag 344 complex encompassed a number of separate camps and covered a very wide area in rural countryside. The site was originally an artillery range in the 19th century and was first used as a POW camp to hold French prisoners during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. It was used as a POW camp again during WWI and resumed that role under the Nazis. In modern times, part of the area has returned to its original function as an artillery range, and is used by the Polish Army.

It is not possible to visit the exact site of the camp where the British prisoners were held because that area is now cordoned off for the artillery range, however visitors can drive part way down the tree-lined avenue that led to the British camp entrance. It was down this lane that Denis travelled to and fro.

Other museum sites include a POW cemetery, the site of the Russian POW camp which includes a reconstructed guard tower and the remnants of POW huts, a memorial to the Russian POWs who died at Lamsdorf, and the central museum building itself, which includes a number of displays and film available in different languages.

While the full records from Stalag VIIIB/344 are held at the University of Opole, the university staff at the museum are friendly and helpful and genuinely interested in the stories of their visitors.

Notes from Our Visit to the Museum in October 2004

'Stalag' denotes a POW camp for enlisted men. Officers were held at separate camps called 'Oflags.' 'Luft' denotes a camp for airmen. The VIII in Stalag VIIIB indicates it is a camp in administrative region VIII, southeastern Germany. The 'B' indicates that it is the second camp in that region.

Only enlisted prisoners, those in Stalags, were put to work in labour camps called Commandos. This is consistent with the Geneva Convention and the POWs were paid, albeit in 'camp money' which had no real value.

The toilet blocks were called 'forty-holers' or 'newsrooms' because they were a place of exchange of information between POWs from different huts.

Of the 200,000 Russians at Lamsdorf, 40,000 died. Of the 56,000 British (which includes New Zealanders), 300 died.

Stalag VIIIB held British prisoners, Stalag VIIIF held Russian prisoners. In 1943 they were combined to form Stalag 344 and the 'VIIIB' name was reallocated to the camp at Teschen.

Major John Dodge was a famous POW at Lamsdorf. He escaped many times and was eventually sent to Colditz.

Douglas Bader was also in Lamsdorf - there was an RAF section - before he too was sent to Colditz.

The museum's copy of the Encyclopaedia of Nazi Camps on Polish Soil lists Commando E494 at Gliwice and mentions that in 1945 there were 52 British prisoners loading transport in a railway station. This may give a clue as to Denis' activities in Gliwice/Gleiwitz if he was deemed not well enough to work in the coalmines.

The tree-lined avenue leading to the entrance of Stalag VIIIB/344.

The museum building.

Barbed wire fence surrounding a Stalag 344 compound.

Scale model of a Stalag 344 POW hut.

Reconstructed Stalag 344 guard tower.

Paul Grey at the village of Łambinowice.

The Polish countryside near Łambinowice.

Central Prisoner-of-War Museum display showing a Red Cross food parcel.

Memorial to the Russian POWs who died at Lamsdorf.

Map of Southwest Poland showing the location of The Central Prisoner of War Museum in Łambinowice.

Denis'travels across Europe, 1943-1945.